Empowered Funds LLC Increases Stock Position in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 79.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 143,291 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 63,456 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in General Mills were worth $9,138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GIS. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Mills during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of General Mills by 61.5% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Mills in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Mills during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. 75.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Mills Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of General Mills stock opened at $58.86 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.14. The stock has a market cap of $32.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.10. General Mills, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.94 and a 12-month high of $75.90.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.18. General Mills had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The company had revenue of $5.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. General Mills’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Mills Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GIS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of General Mills from $83.00 to $82.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of General Mills from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of General Mills in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on General Mills from $78.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on General Mills from $75.00 to $64.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Mills has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Mills

In other news, insider Paul Joseph Gallagher sold 1,041 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.50, for a total value of $67,144.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,546.50. This represents a 2.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Maria Sastre sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $63,660.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,465,007.58. This trade represents a 4.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Mills Profile

General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and savory snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, unbaked and fully baked frozen dough products, frozen hot snacks, ethnic meals, side dish mixes, frozen breakfast and entrees, nutrition bars, and frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.